This romantic comedy is so inoffensively pleasant that it is an easy watch despite any skepticism that the viewer may bring to the table. Two ladies disappointed in love -- Cameron Diaz, a successful movie trailer exec in L.A., and Kate Winslet, a successful newspaper writer in London -- decide to exchange homes for the Christmas holiday period, hoping that a change of scenery will be the cure for their male-induced blues. So Diaz ends up in a simple countrified cottage (as Yanks probably assume we all reside in) and Winslet ends up in a high-tech mansion (as of course we believe all Americans possess!) where each in turn finds a new love. Diaz's is in the handsome form of Jude Law, playing rather less egocentrically than in some of his other roles, and Winslet's in the unlikely chubby and droll form of Jack Black. Rather more time is devoted to the Diaz-Law duo and their chemistry is believably good, even if their roles are not much of a stretch for either of them. The growing attraction between Winslet and Black gets less screen time and in fact seems less likely, especially since he has a ditsy girlfriend still in the picture, but both characters are extremely likeable.
The most interesting part of the story is the relationship between Winslet and her new elderly neighbour, Eli Wallach, playing a famous screenwriter of yore, full of tales of Hollywood's golden years. She encourages him to accept an invitation to a tribute evening which he just could not face without her help. This part of the movie was very touching and I must confess that the film was generally well-written and the various characters well-rounded. It still remains something of a chick-flick, but it is none the worse for that and I was surprised to react as positively as I did. Not all movies are great cinema, but some are pretty good entertainment.
1 comment:
The Winslet/Black/Wallach segments are far and away the better parts of this film
almost to the extent that the Law/Diaz bits could be deleted as they add nothing
Post a Comment